1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to sheet stacking and delivery by endless belt and more particularly to a sheet tray for receiving sheets from a sheet feeder working in conjunction with a conveyor for removing stacks of sheets from the sheet tray.
2. Description of the Related Art
Sheet feeders such as that described in the applicant""s U.S. Pat. No. 6,050,563 issued Apr. 18, 2000, which hereby made a part hereof and incorporated herein by reference, delivers a specified number of sheets to a sheet tray. The stack of sheets must then be removed from the sheet tray. One means of removing the stacks form the tray is a manual removal from the front of the tray which triggers a sensor indicating that the stack has been removed and signals the sheet feeder to send another stack of sheets to the sheet tray. Such a sheet tray is shown in the applicant""s U.S. Pat. No. 6,206,363 issued Mar. 27, 2001, which hereby made a part hereof and incorporated herein by reference.
The removal of the sheets from the sheet tray s such as on U.S. Pat. No. 6,206,363, requires a person or robot to remove the stack from the tray and place it someplace.
It is desired to have an endless lug conveyor for removing the stacks form the sheet tray and moving the stacks to a location for packaging or other operations.
The invention is a sheet tray for use with a sheet feeder and a lug conveyor. The sheet tray receives sheets from the sheet feeder and retains them until a stack of a know quantity of sheets is delivered to the sheet tray. A conveyor chain post then pushes the stack out of the sheet tray and onto a conveyor bed. A sensor on the sheet tray notifies the sheet feeder that the sheet tray is empty and the sheet feeder then begins sending sheets to the sheet tray for another stack.
The sheet tray has two parallel walls for collecting sheets therebetween. The distance between the walls is adjustable. The walls are attached to guide rods and one wall slides relative to the other on the guide rods to adjust for different sized sheets contained therein. The guide rods have brackets attached to one wall and tighten or loosen to move the walls. A sheet guide rod over the stack and attached to one wall provides a top for guiding the sheets from the sheet feeder into the sheet tray. A post on a conveyor chain passes between the two walls and removes the stack from the base of the walls to the conveyor bed. In this manner a continuous movement of stacks of sheets from the sheet tray is provided. This also provides for collating stacks of various materials such as a stack of envelopes from the catch tray on feeder 1 and cards on feeder 2. The envelopes will then pass under the catch tray on feeder 2 while the chain post is pushing the cards off the catch tray on feeder 2.
It is an object of the invention to provide a continuous removal of stacks of sheets from a sheet tray by use of an endless belt conveyor.
It is an object of the invention to provide an adjustable length and width sheet tray for use with any sized sheets in conjunction with a conveyor belt and a sheet feeder.
Other objects, advantages and novel features of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description of the invention when considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawing.